No ice is safe ice!

Kearsley Creek meandering through the Village of Ortonville. Photo by Jonathan Schechter

The great freeze is on. From the edges of our Great Lakes to the beautiful wooded banks of 'my' meandering Kearsley Creek, water is on its slow and unsteady transfomation to ice. And if you are not careful it can kill you. Pay no attention to the old sayings on how many inches of ice you need to be safe. Ice does not freeze evenly and in much of Oakland County streams have thin ice covered with blankets of snow. Lakes and ponds are fed by springs and sun and surface melt can cause illusions of thick ice after a night's freeze. If you want to be safe- stay off the ice. I am all for taking the youngest of children out into woods in the early days of winter. Everyone did that before we became wired to hand held devices.

But the obvious is needed too. Teach them a touch of fear. Fear based on reality and science.

Every year we hear tragic stories of toddlers that wandered off to the frozen pond. And drown. And it's not just preschoolers that don't comprehend the danger. Before the winter is over we will learn of a snowmobile operator - fueled with alcohol in many cases ("Alcohol may have been a contributing factor") that took the great final plunge into the deep, often on midnight runs over not frozen lakes. Nature does not give second chances when it comes to ice. Enough said.

I was taught about safe ice from my father many years ago, but it didn't sink in till I fell though the ice while running my trap line as a boy. Luckily the water was only waist deep in that swamp but the blue jeans turned frozen to steel by the time I got home. I never forgot that life's lesson.

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About Me

Jonathan Schechter, a naturalist and resident of Brandon Township with a passion for outdoor adventure and severe weather events writes a weekly hiking column for the Oakland Press. He lives on 11 acres with a rich mix of wildlife, meadows, woods and wetlands. He has a Master of Science Degree in Forest Resources from the U. of Washington and is an active member of the Wilderness Medical Society certified in Advanced Wilderness Life Support. His writings and nature photos reveal ways humans are subtly yet dynamically altering the behavior of wildlife leading to a corruption of nature's way and wildlife behavior. Join his Earth Almanac blog as Jonathan shares thoughts on our natural world in Oakland County and beyond.